You might feel a little overwhelmed by all the new words and methods of investing in Gold, but don’t worry over the next few paragraphs I’ll attempt to explain everything a new gold buyer needs to know. You’ll soon notice how easy buying gold is.

Every new gold investor should start with gold coins, even if in the future that investor moves to gold stocks, futures, or bullion bars. The gold coin is the most basic and allows the beginner to begin to understand the market just by holding the gold coin. So we’ll start with the gold coin for beginners.

The Gold Coin
As we said before, the gold coin is the most basic and easiest option for most investors. In fact most investors will stay with and recommend gold coins because of the ease at which gold coins can be bought and sold. Another popular feature of gold coins is the guannatee from the government when you purchase a government issued gold coin such as the American Gold Eagle or the Canadian Maple Leaf. These coins are the most bought and sold gold coins and can be found anywhere on-line. It’s the government guarantee and the ease that makes gold coins the best option for the majority of gold investors.

Gold Stocks
Moving to a slightly more sophisticated option for investment, gold stocks can be easily traded. The shares of gold stocks include mining companies but also include shares of trade-able trusts holding gold. These trusts, called ETFs, include the Gold Miners ETF and iShares Gold ETF. The Gold Miners ETF holds a percentage of each major gold miner and generally tracks the overall performance of the gold mining industry. On the other hand the iShares Gold ETF has a large holding of gold stored in various vaults and generally tracks the price of gold.

Gold stocks are for the more advanced investor because of the knowledge required to know which gold mining company is managed well to increase the shareholders value. The ETF, however, allow a less advanced investor still profit from moves in the price of gold without holding and storing any personal gold. Yet, most professional gold investors agree holding personal gold is still the best option because of the paper risk. That is because gold shares, and gold ETFs are trade-able paper and aren’t guaranteed to deliver physical gold.

Gold Futures
Gold futures might be the most sophisticated option for investing in gold. It’s a large contract agreeing to take shipment on a large order of gold. Futures can be traded, meaning that the investor would by a certain contract and sell before the investor takes delivery of gold. Futures are leveraged investments and should only be used by the most sophisticated and advanced investor.

There’s the three major options for gold investors. But, for the beginner its a good idea to stick with gold coins minted by government entities. Think American Gold Eagle. Goldprice.org gives investors sage advice saying that “the longer you keep your gold coins and small bullion bars the more stable your investment will be.”